


RPG Character sheets for writers

by Elf (Elfwreck)



Series: OC Meta Thoughts [3]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: Gaming, Gen, Lists, Meta, Nonfiction, Tabletop RPGs, Writing, writing resources
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-17
Updated: 2011-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23159722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfwreck/pseuds/Elf
Summary: Roundup and discussion of writing resources for making OCs - how to use character sheets to design characters for fiction, plus a set of online writing character-development resources.
Series: OC Meta Thoughts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664782
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	RPG Character sheets for writers

**Author's Note:**

> I've replaced links with Wayback links where I could find them.

From offline discussions about gaming and writing, and how character sheets might be used for fiction, with awareness that gaming systems don't describe characters in ways that are useful for most writing purposes.

For example, ::googles quickly::, [Raven, Level 7 (10 ECL) Druid-Thief. Exiles Campaign, XP: 48,600](http://ruscumag.wordpress.com/atheria-d20/raven-character-sheet/) is a write-up that an author could use; even without knowing the game-system mechanics, it has enough details to use the character in a novel. OTOH, an author doesn't *need* the game mechanics; those would be distractions. In a different system, [The Infamous, The Terrible, The Totally Badass ROOK](https://web.archive.org/web/20120703222704/https://www.prismnet.com/~jwilson/gurps/rook.html) would be usable even if someone doesn't understand all the details of the psionic abilities. It might help to know that 12 is an average level of skill and 17 is astounding (and 21 is downright phenomenal), but mostly... saying he's got "Sleep" and "Mind Stab" powers is enough for an author. (Disclaimer: I found both of these by googling for gaming keywords; I have never seen either page before today.)

For fiction authors, either fanfic with OCs or original fic (or, hey, canonical characters... sometimes it helps to put them in list format), there are less-number-based character notes options:

[Character Sheet](http://www.eclectics.com/articles/character.html), including notes for name & nickname, physical appearance, favorites, habits, background, family, children, occupation, attitude & personality, with multiple subcategories/questions for each.

NaNoFiMo has [Writer's resources](https://web.archive.org/web/20120212082304/http://www.nanofimo.org/resources.html) including several character sheet things: [traits checklist](https://web.archive.org/web/20120107145831/http://nanofimo.org/files/traits-list.pdf) PDF (designed for print; not electronic checkboxes), [detailed character sheet](https://web.archive.org/web/20120107135857/http://nanofimo.org/files/character-prompts.pdf) PDF, fillable with dropdown menus for some traits; [quick questions](https://web.archive.org/web/20120107150724/http://nanofimo.org/files/quick-questions.pdf) PDF for multiple characters--basic notes for 5 characters on a single page, and a [random questions](https://web.archive.org/web/20120417070439/http://www.nanofimo.org/files/questionnaire.pdf) PDF to help flesh out a character.

Laura Cushing has [100 Character Development Questions for Writers](http://web.archive.org/web/20150814135016/http://gather.com/100-character-development-questions-for-writers/). Writing.com has a [Blank Character Profile](http://web.archive.org/web/20090506224133/http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1286721) (from the Wayback machine). Both of those are potentially useful--and huge.

Long, detailed write-ups suitable for main characters in novels can be a huge time-suck for minor characters, or even main characters in short stories. Fortunately, RPGs have systematic ways to describe characters, and a lot of those RPGs are more focused on the story-able aspects of the characters than numbers and rankings.

So, on to the RPG resources. I'm trying to stick to RPGs that don't involve learning a complex game to write up characters--the samples above are Hero Games & GURPS, both of which create incredibly detailed characters. If you love point-crunching and rules minutia, they're wonderful games and could be good resources for writers; if you just want some notes to keep in mind while writing, they're not a good place to start.

 **PDQ (Prose Descriptive Qualities)**

has a [free core rules set](http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=28913&it=1) that could work well for authors. Characters are described through 5 basic qualities: Physical, Mental, Social, Professional & Other; each of these can have traits (strengths & weaknesses) that are ranked at: Poor, Average, Good, Expert or Master.

 **"QUALITY" EXAMPLES:  
Physical:** Gunplay, Kung Fu, Roguishly Handsome, Weightlifting, Ballroom Dance, Perseverance.  
**Mental:** Oriental Philosophy, Fine Food and Drink, Sports Trivia, Speed-reading, Strategy & Tactics, Computer Programming.  
**Social:** Wu-Shen Monks, MI6, Football Team, Conversationalist, Intimidating Guy, Charmingly Effusive.  
**Professional:** Teacher, Martial Artist, Spy, Professional Athlete, Freelance Writer, Bounty Hunter, Mad Scientist.

Why no examples for "Other?" Because it's a catchall term for things that aren't actually part of an identifiable grouping like those--"Esoteric skills, psychic talents, physical resources, or superpowers."

Standard character options are:  
A. 4 Good Strengths and 1 Poor Weakness.  
B. 1 Expert Strength, 2 Good Strengths, and 1 Poor Weakness.  
C. 2 Expert Strengths and 1 Poor Weakness.  
D. 1 Master Strength, 1 Good Strength, and 1 Poor Weakness.

I've removed the numbers; they don't matter for writers. How much better "Expert" is than "Good" is irrelevant if you're not rolling dice.

Characters don't just get "rank Good in 4 qualities." They aren't "Expert at Professional stuff." each Strength and Weakness has a specific definition--one arrangement of option B could be: Expert Spy, Good Martial Artist, Good Computer Programmer, and Poor Driver. Option D could be: Master Mechanic, Good Party-goer, Poor at paperwork & bureaucracy.

Easy, quick arrangement of traits to put into a story, with space to spend as much or little time as you care to on background details.

 **Puppetland**

by John Tynes is an unusual game (I say this as someone who has both the original _Bunnies and Burrows_ and _Midnight at the Well of Souls_ RPGs) wherein the characters are, well, puppets, whose maker has gone missing. The whole text of the game is [available free on his website](http://johntynes.com/revland2000/rl_puppetland_www.html). Authors can ignore the different [types of puppets](http://johntynes.com/revland2000/rl_puppetland_www.html#types) and their abilities, and use the section on [creating a puppet](http://johntynes.com/revland2000/rl_puppetland_www.html#creating):  
**Name:  
Type** (possibly switch with profession or character role):  
**This character is:**  
This character can:  
This character cannot:

Each of those latter gets three things--the sample character, Sally Red Buttons, **IS: very clever, quite pretty,** and **good at magic tricks; CAN: do magic tricks, charm a puppet into doing her a favor,** and **sing very well; CANNOT: tell a lie, swim fast,** nor **hurt another puppet who hasn't or won't hurt her or someone she cares for**.

This is a different, much more narrative approach, still good for describing a character's range of possible actions. The Puppetland system is also flexible enough to change if the story moves in an unexpected direction.

 **Mnemonic**

While looking for other simple (i.e. "not containing 60 pages of skill descriptions") game systems, I ran across [Mnemonic](http://www.alphazulugames.com/mnemintro.html) by AlphaZulu games; it's another one that would work well as a narrative resource.

Characters have a Primary Role, 7 Talents, and a Life Role. The GM section notes that _In Mnemonic, a “character” can be a vehicle, an army, or even a nation. Such characters can be created as easily as more traditional ones, so long as you select appropriate Talents and Roles for them._

 **Primary Roles** are usually species/gender/age and have descriptions like "Young Adult Human, Female" or "Male Green Dragon, 50 yrs old."

 **Talents** are: Agile, Dangerous, Disciplined, Handy, Influential, Smart, Tough  
They're ranked on a 0-6 scale, but you could tinker with that if you cared to.

 **Life Roles** are what other games call "job/skill package." " _A Life Role is usually defined by the character’s job, hobby, or other experience, and where and/or when the experience takes place. The character is assumed to have all the abilities and knowledge of a typical person with that experience._ " Example: _Charakodax the Dragon has been raiding villages and sleeping under the stars in the remote Turak Mountains. Thus, he is given the Life Role “Turak Mtns. Wild Dragon.” It represents the knowledge he has gained about the flora and fauna of the region, locations of settlements, and the behavior of the humans in the area. He has skill at fighting villagers and the dreaded Turakian Giants, and has learned to hunt goats, stags, and livestock. He is accustomed to flying through the area’s turbulent updrafts and storms, and knows of several good hiding places. All in all he is a tough and skilled survivalist, though he’s rather uncultured for a dragon."_

While "Wild Dragon" wouldn't be much use to writer, the description of what that role encompasses would be helpful enough. And characters can have more than one Life Role if their background and experience supports it--a person can have a Life Role of police officer (with related weapons, interrogation, detective work and paperwork skills) and another one of Gay Rights Activist (with social contacts, history awareness, and media presentation skills).

Mnemonic's probably a bit open-ended to be very useful for most writing projects; the lack of structure to the game (stats & roles are "whatever the GM allows") means there's nothing to start from, and it doesn't include the detail that the writer-based character sheets request. But it does have space for that much detail if it's wanted, and the ability to think of characters as collections of role-sets and talent levels could be just what some authors need to sort out their minor characters.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally at <http://elf.dreamwidth.org/433662.html>, where there are (a few) comments.


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